“For a very good reason!” said Paul. “No one has ever found a way over Killimooin Mountains!”
“Why? Are they so steep?” asked Nora, astonished.
“Terribly steep, and terribly dangerous,” said Paul.
“Does anyone live on the mountain-sides?” asked Peggy.
“Only goatherds,” said Paul. “But they don’t climb very high because the mountains are so rocky and so steep. Maybe the goats get to the top — but the goatherds don’t!”
“Well!” said Mike, fascinated by the idea of a secret forest that no one had ever explored. “This really is exciting, I must say. Do, do let’s fly over it in your aeroplane, Paul. Wouldn’t I just love to see what that forest is like!”
“You can’t see much,” said Paul, rolling up the map. “It just looks a thick mass of green that’s all, from the plane. All right — we’ll go tomorrow!”
This was thrilling. It would be grand to go flying again, and really exciting to roar over the Killimooin mountains and peer down at the Secret Forest. What animals lived there? What would it be like there? Had anyone ever trodden its dim green paths? Mike and Jack wished a hundred times they could explore that great hidden forest!
The next day all five children went to the runway beside the hangar where Paul’s aeroplane was kept. They watched the mechanics run it out on to the grass. They greeted Ranni and Pilescu as the two men came along.
“Ranni! Do you know the way to fly to Killimooin Mountains? We want to go there!”